INDIANAPOLIS – The best running back – and maybe the best player, period – in the 2026 NFL Draft is almost universally regarded to be Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love.
But the second-best RB option for teams not in lofty enough position to select Love might just be his former Fighting Irish backup and roommate, Jadarian Price. And though Price doesn’t question his decision to leave South Bend despite having remaining eligibility, it didn’t quite feel like he’d departed after he and Love wound up being roomies again at this year’s NFL scouting combine.
“Just feels like an away game for us,” Price cracked Feb. 27 while meeting with reporters.
But he also had a message to potential future employers considering him as a major component of NFL away (and home) games in 2026.
“I’m a four-down back, I’m here to do it all,” said Price. “I’m continuing to get better and fix the technique of things. But I can catch, I can pass protect – I’m willing to do it all.”
And that includes being a special teams contributor, a major aspect of Price’s résumé and one that may be boosting his draft stock given the impact the NFL’s dynamic kickoff rule has had on the league in recent years.
“I think when you go to the next level, NFL, the more value you have to stay on the field with other things besides running back, that just makes you more valuable and appreciated as a player,” said Price. “So I think it does help me.”
And his skill as a returner has been a frequent topic during his combine meetings with teams like the Denver Broncos and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“Almost every coach and interview I had the past couple days, they mentioned the special teams ability,” said Price, who only handled 22 kickoffs over the past three seasons for the Irish – yet took three of them to the house.
“I told them all the same, I love special teams – and I attack it like I attack offense. I’m willing to do anything when it comes to special teams.”
Price, who led the country by averaging 37.5 yards on kickoff returns last season, when he scored twice, admits the dynamic kickoff seems “pretty weird” to him right now but he understands its growing importance at the pro level.
“Couple guys took it to the crib, and that gets you excited like, ‘Hey, there is a way to get past that line,’” he said.
“It just takes practice and different experience with it.”
Speaking of practice and experience, Price has also been working hard to address his perceived flaws – specifically a penchant to fumble plus a lack of polish as a receiver.
“I do a lot of hard work in practice, things behind the scenes that you don’t see,” said Price, while admitting Love had a “better knack” for receiving.
Price had just 15 receptions over the past three seasons but was confident he’d show at the combine that it’s an overblown criticism. And he looked especially smooth in the Feb. 28 drills while flashing sub-4.5 speed over 40 yards.
Yet the fumbling issue, including two he lost near the goal line last season, could be the bigger concern.
“In every interview you’re gonna go into, they’re gonna talk about the good stuff, and they’re obviously gonna bring up the bad stuff that you need to work on,” said Price while specifically addressing the turnoves.
“Because, at the end of the day, the ball is the program, so that’s what they want to lead with.”
But let’s not bury the lede, either.
Despite sitting second on the Notre Dame depth chart behind Love, who had 417 touches and 3,014 yards from scrimmage over the past two seasons, Price had more than 750 rushing and receiving yards himself in both 2024 and ’25. His 1,211 all-purpose yards in 2025, which factor in his kickoff returns, left him just 441 shy of Love, who was an All-America and Heisman Trophy finalist.
‘He’s like Love-lite almost,’ former New York Giants vice president of player personnel Marc Ross, now an NFL Network analyst, said of Price. ‘The vision is there, the quick cuts are there, he has explosiveness to the edges.’
Said ESPN’s Louis Riddick, a former NFL safety: ‘This dude is a slasher. And he is tough as heck at the contact point, you rarely get this dude down with your first tackle attempt − great pad level, great acceleration on to the second level.’
If both taken in the first round, Price and Love would become the first Round 1 running back duo from the same school since Arkansas’ Darren McFadden and Felix Jones in 2008. Three years prior to that, Ronnie Brown and Carnell ‘Cadillac’ Williams of Auburn were both top-five selections.
Price, who’s 5-foot-11 and 203 pounds, feels like his experience in Notre Dame’s offense will translate well to NFL schemes, and pro scouts have already praised his north-and-south running style.
A lower usage rate in college – Price had 295 touches from scrimmage at Notre Dame, 201 fewer than Love – is another of his selling points.
“Half of them ask about that. The other half ask, you know, ‘Why didn’t you go somewhere else and want to be a featured back?’ And I just tell them, you know, Notre Dame was the place for me. And they ultimately, at the end … do respect that,” said Price.
“I would love to get the ball 25 times a game. Whatever opportunities I’m given, I’m gonna make the most of those opportunities. Even if I don’t get to touch the ball 25 times a game and only 10 – and I end up averaging 10 yards a carry – that’s awesome, too.”
Price, 22, credits Love for making him better and teaching him to play freely while putting less pressure on himself.
“JD has the opportunity and the potential to be one of the best running backs in the league,” Love said.
“(T)he sky’s the limit for JD. He’s gonna do great things in the league, and he’s gonna play for a long time.”
Despite the opportunity to play for a longer time in South Bend and take over Love’s role in 2026 – plus what he deemed compelling financial incentives to do so – Price felt there was little doubt he needed to go pro and embrace an opportunity to create “generational wealth” for himself and his family in the future.
“During the process, you don’t really realize, like, how special, you know, the situation is and impact you’re having on everyone else. But I realized that when we left Notre Dame, the amount of people who reached out to me (saying), ‘Hey, I wish you could stay. I’m so happy, like, that y’all chose to go to Notre Dame and the things that y’all did the past couple seasons.’ It really made me proud of what I did at Notre Dame,” said Price.
‘But it was time for me to go to the league. And the things that me and Jeremiyah have done have been great, but we’re gonna be great NFL backs.”
This post appeared first on USA TODAY
